If a part on your tractor or other piece of farm equipment breaks, you should have the right to fix it yourself. Seems like a no-brainer … right? Not so fast – the issue is more controversial than you may realize.

Farmers in Nebraska, Massachusetts, Minnesota and New York may be the first to be affected. That’s because these four states are considering legislation that would require that farm machinery be repaired only by a certified technician. That has upset some farmers in these areas,, including Waverly, Neb., farmer Mick Minchow.

“I want it to be my call,” he recently told the Associated Press. “I don’t want to make two trips to the service department – one to diagnose it and one to fix it.”

On the other hand, equipment manufacturers are worried that undue tinkering exposes them to copyright, trade secrets or other contractual liabilities. Also, farmers who buy used equipment could be in for a bad surprise if they find the previous owner has made software changes they don’t like.

On AgriTalk, four industry experts recently met up to talk through the pros and cons of these so-called “fair repair” legislations. They included:

Natalie Higgins, vice president of government relations for the Equipment Dealers Association

William Bernhard, technical and safety services manager for the Association of Equipment Manufacturers

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ksfarmdudeAbilene, KS8/20/2016 12:01 PM

I think if its bought and paid for it's yours no matter what the circumstances, if its traded it the dealer or Companys responsibility to put things back in condition same as trading in a tractor that needs engine or transmission work that's part of doing business a lot of this computerized junk is not reliable now put another 10 -20 yrs on this equipment being exposed to the elements rodents what have you and its totally done not like the equipment long ago that will last 30 yrs no problem they charge enough for this technolgy already time the company steps up and does whats right